Chains of Blood
by NeoVaihlo
Summary: Pairings TsukuneXMoka OCXKokoa The members of the Newspaper Club could never have prepared themselves for the unexpected arrival of Keichi Sendo, Yukari's older brother who carries a lot more than a punk attitude and empty pistol. please don't flame
1. Prologue

Ghouls.

I feel so sorry for the poor creatures, changed from humans into bloodthirsty killers through the good intentions of a youkai gone wrong. The blood of our kin running wild through the veins of the human bodies, causing the corrosion and slow decline of the poor fools as they mind, body and soul; leaving only the primal instinct for killing and feeding. Once that stage has been reached, there is only one option left. Extermination.

That's where we come in.

"Target confirmed."

"Good...let's get this over with, alright?"

Keichi Sendo sighed slowly as he watched his Uncle and Father walk past him, their cloaks billowing out behind them as they crossed the torn and scarred landscape. The teen hated helping with the 'family business', though he knew he had no choice. What they did needed to be done.

And the traveling wasn't all that bad either, seeing as they had traveled from Japan all the way to Iraq. The plane rides had been entertaining, though the fact that Keichi's Uncle got air sick so easily had been a pain. That and explaining to the flight crew about the large broom and tennis racket cases containing strange looking wands.

In the World of Monsters, the magical people had always been treated with the raw end of the stick, hated by the youkai and hunted by the humans. But that was not the time to dwell on how life outside of work was. They had been searching for their target for over a week since arriving in Iraq. Word was that an American soldier had been injured in combat and one of his fellow soldiers, being a youkai, had tried infusing him with his blood to save his life.

The following evening had found the whole base camp slaughtered.

Ahead, Keichi saw his elders draw out their wands as they continued forward on the barren battlefield. Spitting into the dirt, the teen reached into his jacket and drew out his 'wand', a rune encrusted 0.9 mm handgun.

Keichi had never gotten into the whole 'wand' use for harnessing nature's energy for using his magic. Instead he channeled the power through a human made piece of metal. Why? He loved the bang of the magic leaving the gun. Though he also wore a memento from his Grandfather, a silver ring with a fire-ray cut gem set in its center. When he got bored, or angry, Keichi would channel his magic through the ring. As a result of this, most people referred to him as a Warlock instead of a Wizard...except his little sister, Yukari. She always called him Onii-sama, and he hated it.

"Keichi! Heads up!"

The teen snapped his attention back into the moment as he saw two glowing blood-red eyes come flying towards him.

"Shit," he muttered as he leapt back and held his left arm forward, harnessing the wind into the ring on his middle finger. The ghoul slammed into the invisible wall he created, freezing in the air before dropping to the ground with a loud shriek as Keichi's arm dropped to his side, lifeless. "Damn it," he cursed as he realized that the ghoul had struck him with so much force that his shoulder had been dislocated. Seizing the moment he raised his gun and pulled the trigger, grinning as the bang echoed across the landscape.

The chamber contained no bullet; only air. Air that, when combined with Keichi's magic became a slug of pure pressure that could shattered boulders. Though to the ghoul, the 'bullet' only punched a fair sized hole through its chest... and pissed it off. A lot.

Letting out a loud roar of rage the ghoul leapt on Keichi, swatting the gun out of his hand and knocking him onto his back.

Keichi raised his hand to try and defend himself as the ghoul's claws started to tear away at his body, ripping his clothes and opening wounds all across his chest. Out of desperation Keichi launched a punch into the monster's face, momentarily pausing its movement. It's response was its claws crossing his face, tearing two large wounds across his right eye and upper cheek.

"Ah, fuck me!" Keichi yelled as his right eye's vision filled with blood, half blinding him.

"Keichi!"

The ghoul flew off of Keichi as his father's voice cut into his mind. Rolling onto his hands and knees Keichi spat out a mouth full of blood, relief washing through his body.

"Get up and help, Now!" his Uncle shouted as he and his Father pointed their wands at the ghoul, causing it to burst into flames.

"Yeah, yeah," Keichi muttered as he got up and flexed his right arm as his hand burst into flame. "I've had enough of this vacation."

The ghoul shrieked as the flames devoured its body, leaving nothing but some charred bones and ash on the ground.

Keichi's Father turned to face his son as he stowed his wand into his robes, his eyes examining his son.

"Keichi, your eye is red..."

"It's blood Dad, don't worry."

"Alright," the older male said, sighing in relief before turning to his brother.

Keichi looked to his left arm and grunted in disgust before grabbing his bicep and snapping his shoulder back into its socket. Flexing his hand to make sure he had done it right, he paused at the sound of clinking metal. Pulling the jacket sleeve up to his elbow, Keichi narrowed his eyes at the Soul Chain and Spirit Lock on his left arm, the silver reflecting in the moonlight.

"Yeah...its only blood in my eye...this time.


	2. A Letter and A Vampire

Chapter 1: A Letter + A Vampire

An average day.

That's all 17 year old Tsukune Aono had ever wanted since entering high school. Truth be told, he shouldn't even be in high school, having failed every entrance exam he had taken, he had miraculously found his way into high school after his father brought home a registration form for a boarding school Youkai Academy. And it was at that very time that Tsukune's life had gone from average to outrageous. Every day had been filled with adventure, new experiences, stress, and life threatening situations.

And that was on an 'average' day at Youkai Academy. Though one should remember that this would be the case for any to luck out and be the only human in a school filled with monsters. And that is exactly what Tsukune was... or more correctly used to be. After several near death experiences and having the infusion of monster's blood as his saving grace, Tsukune's body had changed from being just human. No one could say exactly what he was, but he was just grateful to be alive... even though day to day events challenged that all too often.

But he had no real reason to complain. Tsukune had made many friends at Youkai Academy, joined the Newspaper Club and, without meaning to in any way, shape or form, acquired his own Harem.

The very thought of the last fact made the teen sigh as he gazed out the window of his classroom, waiting for Homeroom to begin. The early morning sun loomed over the barren treetops, casting long jagged shadows across the grounds of the school. A few birds flew from branch to branch, chirping and whistling to one another as the final few bats soared into the hollows for the day, their evening raid of the skies over for the day.

Tsukune's attention was yanked back into the classroom as the sound of brass crashing to the floor caused everyone in the room to jump slightly. Turning in his desk he found the source of the noise to be no surprise; two desks back in the row across from him and currently counting stars on the floor lay Kurumu Kurono, 17 years old, and one of his best friends. The girl would be thought of as shy by any stranger, with her soft expression, light blue hair tied up with a purple hairband, a small yellow flower-shaped ornament attached to its side. But the girl had one feature that made everyone crazy in some regard; her breasts. Even though she only stood 5'6" the girl had a 34" chest (roughly a G cup).

Tsukune slowly tore his eyes away from the dazed girl to the large brass wash basin on the floor next to her, then to the girl in the desk across from him. Twelve year old Yukari Sendo looked at him with her usual cute grin, eyes closed and tongue slightly stuck out, a heart tipped wand in her right hand as her left hand scratched the back of her head, atop which rested a wide brimmed, top pointed hat. Though the girl was five years younger than everyone else in the classroom, she was the smartest one in the entire school, having skipped several grades to land herself in the Second Year class with Tsukune and the others.

Turning his eyes forward, Tsukune couldn't help but jump slightly at the sight of the misty pair of eyes staring at him from the edge of the desk in front of his. Mizore Shirayuki, a 16 year old who had taken to stalking him after having read his newspaper articles the previous year had become as much of an annoyance as an irreplaceable friend to Tsukune. The girl had an air around her that naturally gave most people an uneasy chill when she was nearby, along with her habit of always having a lollipop in her mouth and her disregard to the dress-code, having a belt strapped to her left thigh all called for extra stares to come in her direction.

A small poke between his shoulder-blades made Tsukune turn, and caused the blood to rush to his cheeks as he came face-to-face with school's idol and the girl of his dreams, Moka Akashiya. The girl was the first person Tsukune had met after arriving at Youkai Academy, and the first to discover his secret of being human. Every detail about Moka entranced Tsukune, from her perfectly curved body, her long pink hair, her sparkling green eyes to the black leather choker that remained fastened around her neck from which dangled a silver cross with a blood red gem set in its center.

"Tsukune," she spoke, her voice like a blessing to the young man's ears, "is everything alright? You seem distracted this morning."

"No, every-thing's fine," he replied, closing his eyes and rubbing the back of his head with his right hand, bringing a slight chink of metal to his ears and causing him to stare at his forearm. Under the green and white sleeve of his blazer was the silver chain and lock that held the monster's blood in his veins at bay, keeping him from loosing himself and becoming a Ghoul. Even though he rarely thought about the chain, it was a heavy burden to him, one that he feared to carry.

"Good Morning everyone!"

Tsukune's thoughts shattered as their homeroom teacher, Miss Nekonome pranced into the class room and over to her desk, text books under one arm and a pointing stick in the other. Setting her books down on the desk she cast a quick gaze over the class turning to the chalkboard and began writing the morning's lesson down.

Warily Tsukune opened his notebook and began to copy the notes, his mind wandering as his pen scribbled across the paper.

Just an average day.

"Damn it all," Keichi muttered as he leaned back in the train car he and his father shared, traveling back to the city to catch the plane back to Japan. His father looked to him, a concerned look on his face as his eyes wandered across his left arm, still wrapped in a sling from the previous night.

"Your arm still hurting son?" he asked as he lowered the paper he had been glancing through. Keichi turned his gaze out the window, ignoring his father's words. "Keichi, please answer me."

"It's fine Dad," he answered, his words laced with frustration.

His father stared at him for a few minutes before folding the paper and clearing his throat.

"Keichi, I have something to tell you," he said, waiting till his son looked in his direction before continuing. "We, being your mother, your uncle and myself, feel that you're still too young to be hunting."

"What?" Keichi snapped, his full attention now on his father, his right hand clenched in a fist. "Is this because of what happened last night? It was one mistake! Big deal!"

"You nearly lost your life because of it!" his father yelled, overpowering the teen. Waiting for his son to calm down, he continued. "We've already made the arrangements. You're going to join your sister at Youkai Academy."

"You can't be serious," Keichi growled, glaring at his father. "I'd be in the same grade as her, do you know how humiliating that would be?"

"It's only humiliating if you let it be. Besides," his father lowered his voice and leaned closer, looking his son dead in the eye, "the Headmaster is a world-famous Exorcist. In fact," he reached out and rested his fingertips against his son's left arm, "he's the one who placed this on you."

Keichi's eyes widened at the news. An exorcist? His dream was to master the art of exorcism in hopes that he would be able to save ghouls instead of having to kill them.

"Alright," the teen said, leaning back in the seat, his eyes back to staring through the window. "I'll go. Someone needs to keep Yukari out of trouble."

"Come on people, don't we have anything for this week's issue?"

Tsukune felt a vein in his forehead throb at the words of his upperclassman and President of the Newspaper Club, Ginei Morioka. The older teen had his head held up out of his face with a red headband, and around his neck hung a silver wolf head with a ring in its mouth. Ginei, or Gin as they all referred to him as, had his head resting on his hands as he stared at them, his dark eyes scanning each of them... or to be more accurate each of the girls. Tsukune knew by Gin's expression that he was undressing the girls in his mind; after all, Gin wast he biggest pervert in the school.

"You know Gin, we might have stories to print if you'd do more than just harass us all the time," Kurumu snapped as she carried a box of blank papers over from the storeroom.

"Kurumu, how can you say that?" Gin said as he rose from his desk and slid over to her as she set the box on one of the tables set up against the wall. "You know that I share my love equally among you all!" he proclaimed as reached out and grasped her breasts, squeezing them and causing Kurumu to jump and scream.

"Damn you pervert!" she yelled, grabbed a nearby chair and swinging it into the upper-classman's head, sending him flying into the wall, a large bloody lump on the side of his head.

"Kurumu! Too far! Too far!" Moka shouted as she rushed over and took the chair from the girl's hands as she panted, her eyes glowing red as she glared at Gin's motionless form.

"That dog is in heat year round," Mizore calmly commented as she flipped through a magazine while perched on top of one of the few bookshelves in the club room. "It may be best for us all if we neutered him."

"Agreed!" Kurumu growled as she cracked her knuckles, still glaring at Gin as Moka restrained her from approaching the downed Third Year student.

"Kurumu! Mizore! That's too far!' Tsukune shouted, sweat-dropping at the idea of the two girls with scalpels... no, knowing them they'd perform the surgery with axes and hacksaws.

His attention was drawn to the door as it swung open and Yukari entered, an envelope in her hand. After looking around the clubroom for a second she skipped over beside Tsukune and leaned against him, her eyes on Gin.

"What did he do this time?" she asked before she began tearing open the envelope.

"The usual," Tsukune sighed as he moved away from the girl and over to help Moka calm Kurumu. "Kurumu, didn't you say you had made a new cookie recipe? We could put it in the paper for an article, right?" he asked casually, trying to get her mind off of Gin.

"Yeah I did!" she said, her rage gone as she threw her arms around Tsukune. Moka noted the movement a little too late as she grabbed Kurumu around the waist and commenced trying to pull her off of Tsukune.

"It may be best if you try them first," Mizore commented as she continued to flip through the magazine, though her eyes remained fixed on Tsukune, "it would be bad for the Club if your recipe killed someone."

"What did you say, stalker freak?" Kurumu shouted, her rage back as Tsukune and Moka fought to keep her from attacking Mizore.

"Nothing too far from the truth, cow boobs," Mizore calmly replied as she flipped another page.

"Why you-" Kurumu started before Yukari's sudden squeal cut her off.

"Oh my goodness! Moka! Tsukune! Look!" the girl screamed as she thrust the letter towards the two of them.

Tsukune read the letter quickly, a dead weight feeling of dread filling his stomach as he finished.

"Yukari, does this mean what I think it means?" he asked, his fears deepening as the girl smiled wide.

"Yup! My Onii-sama is transferring here next week!"

"Great..." Tsukune said as silent tears flowed from his eyes, his mind playing out what pain Yukari's older brother would inflict upon him when he found out that his sister was in love with him.

"Wait..." Moka said as realization hit her. "Yukari, I didn't know you had a brother."


	3. A Transfer and A Vampire

Chapter 2: A Transfer + A Vampire

Tsukune spent the next week dreading the day that Yukari's elder brother was to arrive, wondering what pains would be thrown upon him by the rage of an older sibling. But even with the weight as the date drew closer, school life didn't ease up in the slightest for the troubled teen. The same day that the letter had arrived had continued to have Gin taking a serious risk and attempting to snap a picture under Mizore's skirt when she came down from the bookshelf, only to have his camera shattered by an ice spike thrown by the girl... as well as having a perfect outline of his prone pose drilled into the floor by dozens more.

Two days later Moka's little sister Kokoa had a near homicide as she attempted to kill a male second year who somehow managed to sever the waist of her skirt, causing to drop around her ankles while she and Kurumu were handing out that week's issue of Youkai Newspaper, an assault that Kurumu didn't help in preventing by helping the orange haired girl chase the poor boy down. The factor that prevented any bloodshed was the arrival of Ruby Toujou, the school Headmaster's personal assistant, and another of Tsukune's best friends.

And to top it all off the night before the arrival date had been tainted by Won Fanfan's newest attempt at getting Tsukune to join his family... something Tsukune wanted in no way, shape or form. The first year boy had transfered in two months ago, and had already proven that he swung both directions, and swung heavily at that. So with the combined force of his summoning a Cerberus and his older sister's constant interference in their attempts of stopping the beast from destroying the school, they were all surprised when there was no word of suspension after all was said and done.

And now Tsukune wearily pulled himself free of the covers of his bed as the sunlight of the dreaded day dawned, his body feeling like a dead weight as he made his way to the showers, his stomach filled with was either butterflies of killer bees. He knew that there would be some kind of trouble with this brother from what he had managed to get out of Yukari when he questioned her about him. Apparently he was smart, strong, and always there to protect her... meaning that Tsukune's days may well be numbered after this evening.

"Tsukune, what's wrong?"

Tsukune turned as Moka ran up to him on the path leading from the dorms to the school, her bag held behind her back as she leaned forward, looking into his eyes with a concerned expression.

"Are you not feeling well?"

"Sort of," he replied heavily as he continued on towards the school, his feet dragging the ground with each step. "I'm just worried as to how things will be after Yukari's brother arrives."

Moka smiled at Tsukune's words, swinging her school bag in front of her legs and dancing around him, twisting and stopping so that she was face to face with him.

"You have nothing to worry about with that, Tsukune," she said, smiling brightly, "cause you'd never do anything that would hurt Yukari. You're not that kind of person."

With that the girl turned and pranced off on her own to the school, leaving Tsukune standing on the path as more students made their way to their own classes. Closing his eyes for a moment, Tsukune smiled as Moka's words settled in his memory.

"She's right," he said to himself as he started jogging to the school, "I'm not that kind of person."

Finding his way to his desk a few minutes later, Tsukune found Yukari bouncing in her seat, her hands clenched on her knees. Taking his seat, Tsukune turned his gaze to Kurumu, his expression clearly asking what had happened. The blue haired girl merely closed her eyes and shrugged, weakly shaking her head.

"It should be obvious," Mizore's voice floated to Tsukune's ears, causing him to jump as he realized that she was crouching right in front of his desk, her hands resting on the edge of the wooden surface. "Her brother arrives on the bus after school today, why else would she be so excited?"

Tsukune lightly slapped his forehead as he sighed, feeling foolish for not even thinking of that. Yukari practically idolized her elder brother, so it was only natural that she would be excited.

"Everybody, Good Morning!"

Tsukune looked to the front of the classroom as Miss Nekonome pranced into the room, her usual wide smile in place as she stepped up behind her desk and pulled out the attendance sheet. As she started calling off the names, the teen allowed his mind to wander out the window, once again watching as grounds of Youkai Academy slowly lit up with the rising of the sun.

"Alright," Nekonome said after she had finished with the attendance, "I have an important piece of news to give you all this morning. Tomorrow we will be having a new student transfer into our class!"

The news caused whispers to sweep through the room as the students began their questions and assumptions on who the student could be, though the four members of the Newspaper Club remained silent, each one in a silent shock as they realized that this meant Yukari's brother would be joining their class.

"Tsukune!" yukari squealed as she turned to face him, her eyes wide and sparkling. "Isn't this wonderful? Now I'm even going to be in the same class as my Onii-sama!"

"Yeah," Tsukune weakly muttered, the dead weight of dread back in his gut, "it's terrific."

Noon came quickly, drawing the group into the lunch hall where they all sat at their respective table and began their meals, though a few extra bodies soon wandered in to help keep the meal from being to calm.

"Yo, how is everybody today?" asked the tall, built-like-a-tank Karate Club captain Haiji Miyamoto as he and Gin took seats across from Moka, Tsukune and Kurumu.

"Haiji, it's rare for you to come around here," Moka commented as she split her chopsticks and prepared to begin eating.

"Yes well," Haiji replied, grinning slightly, "there are some perks that your table has that others don't."

Everyone in the immediate vicinity coldly stared at at the third year as they saw that his eyes were locked onto the two occupants of the farther side of the table. It was well known that Haiji had a severe loli-complex, and unfortunately Yukari and Kokoa were his favorites in the entire school.

"I don't know how you can get mesmerized by that, man." Gin sighed as he slurped his soup. "There's barely anything there to look at. A real woman has to at least-"

The combination of Kokoa's shapeshifting pet bat in the form of a large boomerang, one of Yukari's large brass wash basins and Kurumu's right shoe silenced Gin mid sentence, knocking him backwards off the bench. Haiji seemed to sense the danger of remaining at the table and silently excused himself.

"Damn perverts," Kokoa muttered as she settled herself back onto the bench and resumed her meal.

Tsukune and Moka both silently chuckled, both feeling that Gin's punishment had been, as always, a little too much.

"Excuse me, Tsukune? Moka?"

Everyone turned to see Ruby standing over Gin's unconscious form, looking to the two she had just addressed.

"The Headmaster has a small request for you two after school," she said as she leafed through the pages pinned to a small clipboard in her hands.

"What does he need?" Tsukune asked, feeling somewhat worried. Anytime the Headmaster asked him to help with something, it usually meant two thing. One, he couldn't refuse even if he wanted to and two, it would probably be a death trap.

"It's regarding the Cerberus that Won summoned yesterday," the older teen said as she lowered the clipboard, "he would like you to help in moving it to the 'Paradise', since the Hound of Hades is a rare creature."

Tsukune's head slammed into his bowl of ramen as the Headmaster's request sunk in. The Monster Paradise was like a Wildlife Reserve, only for endangered and rare creatures. It was also the most dangerous place Tsukune had ever visited.

"It's WHITE!"

Tsukune resurfaced from his soup in time to see that Ruby had been standing directly over Gin's head, making her ankle length skirt useless for hiding her underwear from the pervert.

"I'll go get the nurse," Mizore said casually, getting up from the table as Gin's screams of pain filled the lunch hall, drawing the concerned and terrified stares of the other students.

"How do keep getting myself into these situations?" Tsukune asked as he stared up at the massive maws of the Cerberus, its center head glaring at him with its glowing red eyes. The teen had hold of a thick steel chain connected to a thick leather collar fastened around the beast's center neck.

"Tsukune! Lead him this way!" Moka called from up ahead as she walked with Ruby, Yukari, Kokoa, Mizore and Kurumu, leading the way to the doorway to the Paradise. The girl watched with a weight of anxiety in her chest as she compared the size difference between Tsukune and the beast he was leading; if it wanted to the Cerberus could easily devour Tsukune long before any of them got back in time to help him.

Ruby noticed Moka's expression and set a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry, the beast won't do anything as long as it doesn't get agitated."

A small ways back from Moka and Ruby, Kurumu and Yukari had entered their usual conversation.

"I don't know how you can stand it Yukari," Kurumu said mockingly as she hefted her breasts under her arm, pulling them up to help emphasize their mass. "In the past year you haven't grown in the slightest; you're still as flat as a washboard."

"I don't mind," Yukari replied calmly as a vein throbbed in her temple, "unlike you I don't have to worry about anything bouncing up and knocking me out when I'm running."

"You little brat!"

"Narcissistic boob freak!"

"Shrimp!"

"Cow!"

"Cry baby!"

The last remark from Kurumu pushed Yukari too far. The younger girl pulled out her wand and held it overhead.

"Oh no you don't!" Kurumu shouted as she swatted the wand, changing its angle. The sound of a brass wash basin crashing onto something reached their ears, and as one the girls turned to see what Yukari had hit.

"Oops..." Kurumu muttered as the blood rushed out of her face.

"Why me?" Tsukune muttered as he slowly backed away from the Cerberus, the chain laying on the ground next to the brass wash basin that had smashed on top of the beast's head. The cerberus barked, and Tsukune bolted, feeling the ground shake as the Hound of Hades chased him. "Damn damn damn! What the Hell did I do to deserve this?"

"Tsukune!"

The boy looked to his right at the sound of Moka's voice, his eyes widening as he just had time to catch a glimpse of her before she crashed into him, knocking him out of the path of the charging beast. The two tumbled across the ground for a few feet before they stopped and untangled themselves from each other.

"Moka, are you alright?" Tsukune asked as he looked at the girl, his heart pounding.

"Yes, I'm fine," she replied, gazing into his eyes.

"This is not the time to be staring at each other!" Kurumu shouted from the other side of the path as she and the others ran towards the pair. Regrouping, the teens stared at the Cerberus as it turned and charged them again.

"Damn, now what do we do?" Yukari screamed, trembling.

"Good grief, what the Hell is this doing here?"

Everyone gazed in amazement as a shadow flew overtop of the Cerberus, skidding to a stop a few feet in front of them. Tsukune was able to a flash of silver before a loud bang cracked into his ear drums, causing him to jump slightly. The Cerberus overbalanced to the right and slammed into the ground, sliding a few dozen feet before coming to a stop just in front of the group.

"Jeez, you can't do anything without me, can you little sis?" came the voice from the new arrival. As he turned, Tsukune saw that it was a male about his age and height with jagged dark blue hair. He wore a simple brown jacket overtop of a white collar shirt and worn blue jeans. In his left hand was a silver pistol, and in his right was a suitcase. Tsukune noticed that on the teen's right hand was a silver ring, and the right side of his face was wrapped in bandages, covering his right eye completely.

"Onii-sama!" Yukari yelled as she ran forward and jumped into the boy's chest, hugging him tightly as he wrapped his left arm around her to hold her up as he returned the greeting.

"I thought I told you to stop calling me that," he said sternly, though Tsukune saw that he was smiling as he spoke.

"Onii-sama, onii-sama, here," Yukari said as she dropped back to the ground and pulled by his arm towards the group, or more directly, Tsukune. The two boys locked eyes for a few moments before Yukari's brother spoke.

"You must be the infamous Tsukune I've heard so much about."

"Umm, yeah, that would be me," Tsukune replied meekly, feeling very uncomfortable. Yukari's brother stared at Tsukune for a few more moments before spinning the pistol in his hand and returning it to its unseen holster under his jacket. Shifting the suitcase to his now free left hand, he reached forward with his right, smiling.

"Pleasure to finally meet you. I'm Keichi Sendo."


	4. Siblings and A Vampire

Chapter 3: Siblings + A Vampire

Tsukune sat against the wall of his room, resting his body in the shadows cast from the setting sun as he rested his arms on his bent knees, his head tossed back against the wall as he stared at the ceiling. The thoughts in his head raced as he tried to piece together the nightly war in his head; the girls. He knew that all of them loved him, and he loved them all in return. But not in the same way for all of them. Mizore was very cute and had proven her love him many times. Kurumu had also voiced and shown her love for Tsukune on more than one occasion. Ruby had never voiced her feelings, but her actions spoke more than loudly enough, and Yukari... well she had done everything the others had done and more. But the one that Tsukune love knew his feelings were for was the one who had never said a word aloud; only made her feelings known through her actions and expressions. Moka was the one Tsukune loved, but he knew he couldn't tell her or the others. He couldn't stand breaking their hearts and destroying the friendship they had all forged together... yet he couldn't keep living in the delusion of letting it continue.

A knock on his door made him look down from the ceiling, his eyes know locked on his door. "It's open," he said, watching as the knob turned and the door swung open. Tsukune felt surprised to see that it was Keichi, wearing a bathrobe and slippers, the right side of his head still wrapped in bandages.

"Did I disturb you?" he asked as walked in and shut the door behind him.

Tsukune shook his head and motioned for him to take a seat, and Keichi obliged by leaning against the opposite wall and sliding down till he was siting on the floor. "Did you need something?" Tsukune asked, feeling nervous about having Yukari's brother in his room after just meeting him a few hours earlier.

"Not really, just got tired of sitting in my room and not doing anything," Keichi replied, scratching the back of his head. "I was getting pretty bored."

"Trust me," Tsukune said, sweat dropping slightly, "that will change soon enough. School life here is anything but boring."

Keichi smiled at Tsukune's words, visibly relaxing more as he stretched, lifting his arms against the wall. "By the way," he asked as he lowered his arms back to his lap, "I need to hear something from you."

Tsukune blinked in sight confusion, but nodded in response. "Alright, what is it?"

"I know that Yukari claims to love you. What about you?" he asked, narrowing his eyes at Tsukune, who felt his heart skip a beat. "What are your feelings for my little sister?"

Tsukune averted his gaze, staring at his knees, his heart barely beating as his head raced again. He knew that this would be brought up eventually, but he had hoped it wouldn't be this soon. Swallowing hard to trying and calm his nerves, Tsukune slowly collected his thoughts before looking back up at Keichi. "I do love Yukari," he said, locking his gaze on Keichi's one visible eye, "but only as a friend, no. I think of her like my own little sister."

Keichi stared at Tsukune for a few moments, his expression still hard and judging. He blinked, and his expression broke into a wide goofy smile. "I'm glad to hear it. By the way, can I look at your text books? I'd like to see what we're learning in class."

"Oh, sure thing," Tsukune said, relieved that Keichi understood him. Getting up and walking over to his school bag, Tsukune dug out a few of his books and set them on the small table in the middle of the room. Picking one of them, he flipped through the pages searching for the noted from that day only to freeze and shout in panic. in place of his notes were ecchi photographs of Yukari posing in the most provocative positions and wearing the craziest outfits. "What the Hell are these?" Tsukune shouted before feeling a shiver run through his spine. Slowly turning around he saw Keichi stand over him, his eyes glowing red as he glared down on Tsukune.

"Think of her as your sister, do you?" he asked as he reached inside his robe. "I think that it's a good thing that she's not your sister," he continued as he pulled out the rune encrusted revolver from that afternoon, the hammer already cocked. "But she is my sister, and I won't forgive you for using my sister like that and lying to my face," he finished, aiming the gun at Tsukune's forehead.

"Wait! I have no idea where these came from! I swear, I have never seen these before in my life!" Tsukune screamed as he watched Keichi's finger tighten on the trigger.

"Sure you haven't," Keichi growled just before the gun went off.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" The sunlight filled the classroom as Tsukune shot up off of his desk screaming, causing Miss Nekonome to howl and leap off of the floor, her cat tail popping out of her skirt as she and everyone else in class stared at Tsukune in utter shock. Tsukune felt his face burn up as his eyes remained wide and his mouth continued to hang open.

"Tsukune, is everything alright?" Moka asked as she leaned forward and placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah... everything is just peachy," he sighed as he sat back down in his seat, burying his head in his arms.

"Umm, okay as I was saying," Miss Nekonome said as she regained her composure, "we have a new student joining us today. Please come in!" she called to the door just before it slid open and Keichi walked in. As he reached the teacher's desk and turned to face them the whole class gasped in shock. Keichi had removed the bandages from his head, revealing fresh overlaying scars across his right eye and cheek. Miss Nekonome looked out on the class uneasily before looking back to Keichi. "Alright, please introduce yourself."

Keichi straightened his back slightly as he looked out past the class, locking his eyes on the back wall. "I'm Keichi Sendo, 17 years old. I like music and martial arts."

Tsukune felt his ears prick up as the class started to whisper amongst themselves. He was able to catch the odd comment, each one making his head race.

"Sendo? Does that make him Yukari's older brother?"

"How embarrassing to be in the same class as her."

"Where did he get those scars? Is he some kind of delinquent?"

"I dunno, he's kinda cute."

Tsukune looked over to Yukari to find her glaring at her desk, tears welling in her eyes as her balled up fists shook on her desk.

"It's not his fault..." she mumbled, fighting back her rage, "it's not his fault... it's not fair..."

"Yukari," Tsukune muttered, turning to reach out to her but stopped as he saw that Kurumu had already leaned over her desk to hug the little girl.

"All of you shut up," came a cold hard voice, drawing everyone's attention to the desk in front of Tsukune's. Mizore had stood up to address the class, a cold aura surrounding her body. "Everyone has their own stories to tell. It's their choice when they will share and with whom they will share. So shut up and show some respect... or I'll freeze you all." She stated before sitting back down.

The entire class fell silent at her words, though Tsukune's eye twitched slightly.

_"Mizore, can't you ever make a statement that doesn't end in a threat?"_ he thought to himself as Miss Nekonome continued.

"Alright Keichi, your desk is at the back of the class beside Kurumu Kurono." she said, pointing to the empty desk. Keichi silently made his way to the desk, sitting down and leaning back in the chair, staring at the chalkboard with a completely bored expression.

"He'll adjust to this soon enough," Yukari whispered to Tsukune, who looked at the girl in silence. "He always finds a way to make things work out." She spoke, though Tsukune saw the doubt and sadness in her eyes. Smiling, he nodded.

"I'm sure he will."

The day passed by quickly, and the class's opinion of Keichi improved during its course as he showed them all that he was easily as smart as his little sister throughout their classes and demonstrating his athleticism in P.E., resulting in many people trying to recruit him to their clubs, all of which he quickly turned down. Moka had watched the whole day as Keichi and Yukari showed the bond they had as siblings, feeling slightly envious that she didn't have that connection with Kokoa.

As she packed her bag after the final bell of the day finished ringing, Moka looked up as Tsukune and Keichi both left the classroom one after the other, closely followed by Kurumu and Mizore. Quickly getting out of her seat she made to follow them only to have her path blocked by Yukari, a worried expression on her face.

"Moka! We have a problem!" she said, her voice filled with anxiety, her fists clenched and held just below her chin.

"What's the matter Yukari?" Moka asked, slightly worried that something serious was at hand.

"Onii-sama doesn't want to join the Newspaper Club!"she cried is despair, causing Moka to loose her balance and fall against her desk for support.

"That's a serious problem, is it?" Moka asked, trying to understand where Yukari was coming from with the topic.

"I want to be in the same club as him! Moka, you have to help me think of a way to get him to join!"

Moka sweat-dropped as she raised her hands up in front of her, blacking away slightly. "I think if you want him to join you should find a reason for him to join that he can't refuse," she said, hoping the advice might be useful.

"Of course!" Yukari yelled, pumping her fist in the air. "Thank you Moka! I'll go talk to him now!"

Tsukune walked out of the dorms and stretched, holding his right arm with his left as he lifted it overhead for a few moments, his eyes closed from the strain. Lowering his arms and opening his eyes again he caught a glimpse of someone vanishing into the woods, heading in the direction of the bus stop. Thinking for a moment, Tsukune figured that he had time before Club started and followed the after the person, curious to see why someone would be heading towards the cliffs at this time of the day.

Breaking through the woods after a few minutes Tsukune saw the student sitting at the edge of the cliffs overlooking the lake, seemingly lost in thought. Taking a few steps forward, Tsukune realized that he had been noticed as the student turned to face him. Tsukune felt his nerves spike as he saw that it was Keichi sitting before him, his expression anything but friendly.

"Oh," Keichi said as he saw that it was Tsukune who had followed him, his expression softening slightly, "what's up?"

"Nothing really," Tsukune replied, trying to keep the conversation short yet civil. "Just wondering why you came out here is all."

"No special reason," Keichi replied, turning his gaze back to the red watered lake, "I just needed a place to sit and think for a bit is all. Someplace away from the school."

Tsukune understood where he was coming from, knowing full well how suffocating the school could be on a person. Without really thinking about it he sat down beside Keichi, following his gaze out across the water, watching the waves reflecting the light of the sun.

"Hey," Keichi said, causing Tsukune's concentration on the water to break, "you know that girl who spoke up for me in class, right?"

"Uh, you mean Mizore?" Tsukune asked, wondering what this was all about.

"Yeah, is she seeing anyone?" Keichi asked, his cheeks getting a light red tinge to them.

Tsukune felt like a boulder had landed on his head. How the hell could he explain the messed up situation that he was in without sounding like a complete ass hole? "Umm... she's not seeing anyone per-say..." he said, turning his gaze skyward as he lightly scratched his cheek with his index finger.

"You think I might have a shot at asking her out?" Keichi asked, keeping his eyes locked on the lake.

"Not a chance in Hell."

Tsukune yelped in shock as he leapt to his feet, spinning around to see Mizore staring at the two of them from the edge of the forest. Feeling a sweat drop sliding down his head, Tsukune slowly turned his gaze back to Keichi, freezing as he saw that Keichi had turned white from the instant rejection, his gaze still locked on the lake, a small tear welling under his eye.

Mizore turned and walked away from the two boys, casting a quick glance over her shoulder at Keichi. "Tsukune is the only man I will give myself to."

"Geeeeeeeeez! It's not fair!" Kokoa fumed as she paced around her room, her cheeks puffed out in irritation as she circled around the small table in the center of her room. Her pet bat, Kyou, hung from a small bar on the top of a bookshelf set in the corner of the room across from the bed and door. Pausing in her steps Kokoa grabbed her head and yelled, throwing her head back as she rubbed her head violently, messing her hair around as she tried to think clearly. After a few moments she stopped, letting her arms drop to her sides before she dropped to her knees, staring at her window. "It's not fair," she muttered, a few tears welling under her eyes as she sat back and pulled her knees up to her chin, resting her head against them. "The only one who ever gets to spend time with Onee-sama is that stupid Tsukune," she muttered, staring between her knees at the carpeted floor. "Nothing I do seems to make her want to see me... it's that damn Seal's fault." She paused, her eyes widening as her brain started clicking. "Tsukune is the only one who can take the Seal off... and the Seal is what keeps me from seeing Onee-sama..."

Kyou shivered as it watched the thin smile spread across its master's lips.

Moka left the classroom with Yukari, who immediately shot off down the hallway to look for her brother., leaving Moka to walk towards the clubroom alone. Carrying her schoolbag in both hands in front her legs, she spaced out as she traced the usual path to the News room, her eyes tracing the lines on the floor as she turned the corner and feeling something heavy bump into her, knocking her off balance. Reeling backwards from the hit, Moka landed roughly on her backside with a small yelp of pain and surprise, her schoolbag sliding a few feet off to the side.

"Ah! Moka, are you alright?"

Looking up Moka saw that she had run into Tsukune, who was overburdened with boxes to the point that he could hardly see overtop of them. Getting to her feet Moka nodded her head and grabbed the top box, taking it down before speaking.

"What're these for, Tsukune?"

"Old files that Gin wants taken to the archive room in the basement. There's really nothing else to do today so we're just cleaning the club room up." Tsukune said, a smile of gratitude on his face for being able to see again.

"Alright, I'll help you carry these down than!" Moka said, tilting her head to side, a bright smile spread across her face.

Keichi felt terrible. As far as he was concerned the day had been the worst of his life. First he had to join the school, then the whole scenario that morning in class, then getting instantly rejected by an extremely cute girl, and now...

"Come on onii-sama! Please come and join the Newspaper Club! PLease please please!"

Keichi heaved a sigh and sweat dropped as Yukari pranced around him, flailing her arms to keep his attention as she begged him to join her club. She had found him as he had been walking back to the school, hoping to wander around the building for a while before heading to supper. Instead he now wandered the halls with his sister all but yelling in his ears.

"Onii-sama! Please come and join the news-" Yukari fell silent as Keichi suddenly grabbed her by the back of her shirt collar and lifted her off the ground with one arm, holding her so that they were face to face.

"I already told you Yukari," he said, fighting to keep himself calm, "that I'm not interested in your club. Now please just leave me alone." Setting her down gently he walked past her, completely oblivious to the tears welling in his sister's eyes.

"Keichi, you jerk!" she shouted at him as she turned and ran to the clubroom, tears crawling down her cheeks as she ran.

Keichi paused in his steps, his sister's words echoing in his ears.

_"She called me Keichi..."_ he thought, remembering the last time she had called him by his name. Turning to follow her he felt his shoe bump into something on the floor. Looking down her saw a schoolbag with a tiny bat keychain attached to it. Kneeling down and picking it up he saw the name Akashiya, Moka on it. "Akashiya is in my class," he muttered, remembering the girl with the pink hair that sat across and one seat up from him. Rising to his feet Keichi shouldered the bag and headed in the direction his sister had gone, figuring that the fates wanted him to be in the clubroom that day.

Kokoa sat at a table in the Newspaper's club room, her head resting on her hand as she stared out the window in boredom as she waited for Tsukune to return to the room while Kurumu, Gin and Mizore trotted around the room, cleaning off the windows, filling a trash bag and setting files into boxes to be set aside for future reference. Ruby had been there earlier, helping by tripping, dumping the trash bag's contents all over the floor and flashing everyone in the room her panties, which lead to some mild entertainment from Gin getting pounded by three desks as he attempted to take a picture. Not long after that Ruby was called to the Headmaster's office, leaving the others to clean the mess. Now, things were just boring. Kokoa sighed as Kyou fluttered around the room, the bat seeming to be as bored as she felt; though unlike her, he at least had the energy to move around. The clubroom doors suddenly slid open as Moka and Tsukune walked in, both smiling to one another. Kokoa felt her nerves spike at the sight of them together, her sister once again paying more attention to that stupid guy instead of her. Just as she was about to get up to yell at them they were bowled over as Yukari flew into the room, her eyes dripping with tears as she hugged Moka around the waist, weeping heavily into her chest.

"Yukari?" Moka yelled in shock as she tried to piece together what had just happened. "What's wrong?"

"Keichi... Keichi is such a jerk!" Yukari bawled as she clung tighter to Moka who softened her expression, realizing what had happened as she set her hands on the young girl's back.

"What's going on?" Kurumu asked as she walked over, closely followed by Mizore and Gin. The whole room listened as Moka explained what was going on. By the time she had finished, Kurumu was biting her nails in anger. "What's his problem? He could have at least come and looked at the club before deciding he didn't want to join."

"Come on everyone," Tsukune said, feeling slightly uneasy since he had a feeling that both he and Mizore knew why Keichi had acted the way he did, "he might have just felt stressed or something, right?"

"Tsukune," Gin said as he set his hand on Tsukune's shoulder, "I know that you feel obligated to find the middle-ground here, but I agree with the ladies on this. The way he acted towards his sister was inexcusable."

"Keichi..." Yukari stuttered as she pulled her head back from Moka's chest, "I hate Keichi!"

"I hate Keichi!"

The words cut deep into Keichi as he stood outside the clubroom, listening from the hall. His hand that held the schoolbag twitched and he felt his eyes sting, his heart burning in guilt from the pain he had caused his sister. Setting the bag down beside the door Keichi turned and walked away, feeling that he had no right to ask for his sister's forgiveness.

Kokoa felt for Yukari, somehow understanding the girl's position. Yet she wanted to put her plan into motion now and knew that this was the best chance she would ever get. Getting to her feet and walking over to the group, she made to pass them and tugged on Tsukune's shirt sleeve.

"Huh?" Tsukune muttered as he looked over at Kokoa while the rest of the gang's attention was fixed on Yukari.

"Come with me," Kokoa said before passing by him and leaving the room. Tsukune watched her leave, confusion mounting in his mind as the seconds ticked by before following, his curiosity at its limit.

Kokoa stood alone with Tsukune on the roof of the school, staring out on the schoolyard as the light breeze blew across her face, causing her orange pigtails to sway. A few feet behind her stood Tsukune, growing more and more curious with each second that she remained silent. At long last, Kokoa found the words she was looking for and took a breath.

"Tsukune," she started, keeping her back to him, "I've come to understand that you're the only one who can release my big sister from her seal, right?" Behind her she heard Tsukune mutter a simple acknowledgment. Turning to face the boy she did her best to use the 'puppy eye' look that she saw the other girls use on him. "In that case, could you please take the seal off and throw it away for me?"

"WHAT?" Tsukune yelped in shock as Kokoa's request stuck his ears. "Are you serious?"

"Please?" she begged, her eyes sparkling as she clasped her hands together in front of her.

"Kokoa," Tsukune said, feeling slightly amused at the girl's ignorance, "I can't release your sister forever, otherwise the seal will stop working and her powers will run rampant, which would cause the Great Barrier to weaken and possibly shatter.

"Really?" Kokoa asked, her patience at its limit as she snapped; her eyes narrowing as she bared her fangs at the boy. "Now you listen to me, you jack ass! Ether you release my big sister's seal or I will beat your freaking skull in!"

"HUH?" Tsukune shouted as Kokoa's anger covered the rooftop like a miasma. "Kokoa, I'm serious, there's nothing I can do! I can't put the school in danger!" he yelled, trying to get Kokoa to understand.

"Less talking more obeying!" Kokoa commanded as she leapt forward, her right arm extended out towards Tsukune, aiming to grab his throat. Tsukune's training with the Inner Moka kicked in on instinct as he deflected Kokoa's hand and rolled under her, sliding to a couching position behind her. As he lifted his head, Tsukune felt his heart skip a beat.

"Kokoa!" he shouted as he sprinted forward.

"Huh?" Kokoa asked, confused as she had kept her eyes locked on Tsukune the whole time, now looking forward. She had leapt too far, clearing the rooftop and now had nothing but the six-story fall to the ground below her.

"Kokoa!" Tsukune shouted again as he threw himself over the guard rail, grabbing hold of the steel with his left hand and reaching out to the girl with his right. Kokoa swung with her hand to grab Tsukune's outstretched hand with little avail; their fingertips barely brushed each other. She screamed as she plummeted towards the ground.

Keichi wandered through the third floor hallways, Yukari's words still echoing in his head with every step he took. His heart pounded the guilt of his words and actions throughout his body and he fought back the tears that continued to burn in the back of his eye sockets. Turning another corner he found himself facing a large picture window that reached up to the next floor, bringing the late afternoon sunlight into the corridor. Shivering slightly as the sunlight warmed his body, Keichi's eyes snapped wide as he heard a scream. Looking around quickly, he caught the falling figure of a girl from outside the window. Gritting his teeth Keichi summoned his energy before he took off towards the window, his footsteps cracking the floor tiles as he ran towards the window, trying to gauge his speed properly.

_"I'm too slow..."_ he thought to himself as he willed his blood to boil, feeling the burning sensation flood his veins just before kicking off from the floor and, crossing his arms in front of his face, shattering through the window, flying straight towards the girl. Lowering his arms slightly he easily scooped the girl out of the air before leaning forward and twisting, aided by his momentum to land feet first on the dirt three floors below, skidding backwards on the balls of his feet as he clutched the girl tight in his arms until they had come to a stop.

Kokoa had her eyes shut tight, her arms wrapped tightly around the neck of whoever had just saved her, her body still shaking from the shock.

"Are you alright?" she heard her savior ask in a male voice. Nodding her head slowly, she finally opened her eyes to see the scarred face of Keichi staring down at her, his eyes filled with concern. Kokoa felt her cheeks start to burn as her eyes locked with his, felt her body fully relax in his arms until she suddenly remembered what had been happening before her fall. Leaping out of Keichi's arms and to her feet and glared at the boy and began to shout.

"Who the Hell do you think you are, hugging me like that?" she roared, her face burning red from embarrassment before whipping around and spotting Tsukune still hanging from the school roof. "And you," she shouted up at Tsukune, "just wait till I get my hands on you!"

Keichi stood up and watched as the girl took off towards the school as Tsukune climbed back onto the roof before starting to run too. He felt himself smile before turning, intending to head back to the dorms, just as his heart thumped heavily in his chest, sending a wave of pain through his body. Keichi's vision blurred, his knees gave way, and he never even realized that he hit the ground.


End file.
